ANN ARBOR -- The early hour was no excuse for a lack of effort from the Ann Arbor Skyline football team Thursday morning.

After conditioning drills, the coaching staff sent players to work with their position groups. When the students showed a lack of urgency getting to different parts of the field, a whistle blew and they had to do up-downs.

“Football has not been a big deal here,” Brock said. “We are trying to change that as much as possible. We have great kids, who are extremely coachable, but they just have to get used to that attention to detail with everything they do. It’s a process.”

Brock, who has a defensive background, worked closely with the linebackers during the first hour of practice. Rarely was a there moment where his voice couldn’t be heard.

“If we can’t destroy blocks, we aren’t going to be very good,” he yelled at one linebacker.

“You need to have explosive hips, that’s the only thing that gives a small player a chance against a bigger man,” Brock said, physically showing another player how to take on a blocker.

Willy Clark, a two-year starter, was one of the linebackers working with Brock Thursday morning.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Clark said. “It is a lot different than last year. This year, if we are not in exactly the right spot, or not hustling, the coaches are going to get on us. We haven’t had a winning season, and we needed a change of mentality."

Clark acknowledged there was an initial resistance from some players to Brock’s approach, but that hasn’t carried over to training camp.

“At beginning of summer we had long workouts, kids were getting tired and dejected,” Green said. “Now, we are coming out here and seeing how much we have improved. I think it has made everyone real excited to be out here.”

It helps that Brock is equally quick to deal out praise, as he is criticism.

When the wide receivers and defensive backs ran drills against each other, Brock was on the sideline pointing out the players using solid technique, and standout performances like a nice catch or deflection.

“You have to love them as hard as you coach them, that way you feel safe if there response is adverse then it isn’t on you,” Brock said. “The game isn’t for everyone, but we haven’t had anyone quit.”